In the field of this invention it is known that there are many image segmentation (the identification and mapping of image segments) techniques already in use, for example in the fields of medical imaging and security applications. Typically an identified segment relates to a portion of an image which is of particular significance (such as a vehicle or person in the case of security applications). Segmentation algorithms (and related edge detection algorithms) are well known in the art.
However, these known approaches have the disadvantage that the segmentation algorithms are complex and generally require a large amount of computation time. It will be appreciated that where real-time input is taken from a moving image, the speed of segmentation is critical. Also, the result typically shows the different segments of the image. However in some applications only a statistical summary of the segment information is required, and therefore more data is provided than is actually required, which wastes computation time. Furthermore, in those applications which need only summary information, extracting this from a full segmentation is an additional computational step.
An example of an application which uses summary segmentation is a computer input device. A camera captures an image input, for example that of fingers pressing on a screen. This is used to generate summary information about the location, orientation and size (relating to pressure) of the finger marks. These are then used to control computer applications, such as computer art or music.
A need therefore exists for an image processing method, system, computer program and data carrier wherein the abovementioned disadvantages may be alleviated.